If she wants to move the tractor but there are no adults around to help and Brother isn't being nice...don't worry.

She'll take care of it on her own.

Even in a pink dress and diva-licious sunglasses.

This baby girl is tough.

Don't let the ribbons and bows fool you.

The best part is that Brooks thinks this helmet is on correctly. He put it on himself.

(Those of you who are going to call Child Protection because we let him wear his helmet wrong...don't fear. We are the most obsessive helmet family on this planet and we take helmets seriously.)

Isn't this just priceless?

The fact that it's a snowboarding helmet makes it even better.

Going to the lake just keeps getting better. The kids loved the new long-boards and we were amazed and how good they are. Their balance is great!

Oh, and Chloe is a great observer and buddy while she hangs with the adults on the dock.

Chloe--23 months

Kennedy--8 years old

Maggie--6 years old

Brooks--4 years old

The kids took part in their first parade. They did great minus the couple of almost accidents when they'd attempt to throw candy and drive at the same time.

I may have said something to Greg like, "Honey, you are going to have to go up front! I can't handle this! They are going to crash and my anxiety is through the roof!" Of course Greg helped me out and did what he could to try to keep the kids on the road.

It was a blast to take part this year. I'm sure that as the kids get older the float that the Do-Jo's enter in the annual Lake Dowling parade will evolve into something even bigger and better!

It's fun to make memories.

Speaking of memories: I had a few "almost wet my pants from laughing" moments this weekend. All of which involved Steph. One "almost wet my pants from laughing" moments was most definitely when I attempted to put Steph on the back of my bike and drive her around the lake for the parade.

(We succeeded, by the way and we will never tell if we might have wet our pants just a little bit!)

We are having a really hard time around here lately. Our little man is having a hard time with basic obedience and control of his emotions.

We don't know if it's the missing routine of preschool or if it's lack of sleep or too much sugar or just being 4 or something else we haven't explored yet.

We are at a loss.

We have cut out sugar (although since it's VBS week--not entirely). We have disciplined. We have taken activities away. We have taken toys away. We have swatted. We have given time-outs. We have done early bedtimes. We have skipped T-ball. We have given praise. We have used rewards. We have had long talks.

None of the above seem to work.

He's tender, loving and can be a good kid. We are in a rough patch right now and crying out to the Lord for help. Our hope is that this too shall pass. We'd love for it to be sooner than later.

We love this boy more than words could ever express. He brings us tears of joy and tears of frustration.

We know this is worth it and because of that we are hanging on.

You are SO worth this, Brooks.

We love you.

XOXO

I didn't do a Father's Day post. It's pretty fitting that I didn't have time, though. We don't have time to do anything around here these days. We are in the most challenging journey of our lives raising these beautiful children. It's tough stuff. But, I know that Greg wouldn't change a thing. I know that although we don't classify the last few months as "fun", Greg would never want a Father's Day to come and go without being able to be call himself "daddy".

Chloe loves to take care of her Daddy.

(We left out the pictures of her ripping this massage stick out of another person's hand in order to get what she wanted. If we were to post that, it would just ruin the Father's Day post..right?)

Father's Day morning Brooks and I made Daddy pancakes and we gave him lots of loves. Brooks and his Daddy have a great relationship and because Greg loves Brooks enough to discipline many times you may overhear Brooks saying, "I am not your friend. I do not like you. I am not living at this house anymore." Tonight, when Brooks went to bed he told his Daddy, "Tomorrow, Daddy, I am going to love you again (sweet) and then I am going to push you into the wall (not sweet)!"

The intensity of this boy is unreal. If we do things right and channel his intensity in the right way, he might just rule this world someday.

Oh, and truth be told: BROOKS ADORES HIS DADDY. THEY ARE BEST BUDS.

I am so glad I am married to this man. Although we have not had a complete conversation in months, I know that when the kids are 18 and we get to talk to each other again, we'll have lots to say and lots of love to share. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this daddy.

Dearest little baby girl:

You are not a baby anymore. You are a stubborn little lady. You cross your arms, cry and throw your body on the ground in pure dissatisfaction when you don't get your way.

You know what you want and when you want it.

You need to get your way or nobody can have peace.

You are so dear, though. In so many ways you are easier than we remember a two year old being.

In so many situations we see amazing obedience that we never saw with your high-energy brother.

We will take the good with the bad and always remind ourselves that the good far outweighs the bad, Chloe-Belle.

We love you.

Thank you Lord for this blessing, even when we think we can't take it for one more second.

Greg takes lot of pictures I don't see until later. Here are two of them. I laughed out loud. Remember before when I was assuring my readers that we don't let Brooks kill, shoot, stab, hurt...anything other than animals?

See?

I told you we were good parents!

No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to keep Chloe looking clean and "put-together". I don't really see the point in fixing her hair, except I want to at least be able to say I've tried to have her look well-kept.

She's a total tom-boy, seldom maintains a clean outfit for more than a few minutes and is rarely seen without dirt on her face.

I swore that would never be my child.

Then, I had Chloe.

There are times when she looks more like an "Izzy" (side note: her middle name is Isabelle) than a Chloe. Lately, I've been more inclined to call her Izzy. We love the nickname because it matches her cute buck teeth, dirty face and uneven pig-tails so perfectly.

Whether Izzy or Chloe or Belle or Chloe-Belle, she's the most amazing baby girl we know.

She is smart, stubborn, obedient and loving.

She is silly, cute, strong and sweet.

She is our baby girl (who just so happens to be turning TWO next month!).

Brooks graduated from Preschool recently. Well, he didn't really graduate because he goes back again next year to the same class (for his third year), but they called it a graduation anyhow. He got a diploma and sang his heart out in front of the class.

His Preschool is more expensive than most and Greg and I have gone back and forth wondering if it's really worth sending Brooks another year or if we should look somewhere else. When we saw Brooks at his graduation, in front of the room singing his heart out and praising the name of Jesus in so many different songs and versus our answer was clear.

It is worth every penny.

We are so convinced of this that Brooks is eager to go 3 full days a week next year to prepare him for Kindergarten.